Rotating your horses herbs

People always ask me if it is OK to keep giving horses herbs, all the time.

To this I answer: yes, but!

Let’s have a look at the horses places of origin: Europe and Asia, in these continents there are wild herbs that horses feed on as they graze and browse, so the best way to feed them herbs is to mimic what they would do in nature. Wild horses would not have Nettles and Rosehips at the same time for instance. Why? Because Nettles grow and flower in spring and summer and rosehips appear in autumn.

That doesn’t mean you must not give those two together (I certainly do) this is just an example to explain the seasonality of the herbs. So for instance, you could give Nettles for a whole month, and then switch to Dandelion leaf, then Borage for a little while (always shorter for Borage) then back to Nettles.

If you are giving Thyme for digestion, you can rotate with Fennel and Chamomile. For the nervous system, play with Lime flowers, Lemon verbena, Skullcap and Passionflower.